Next story in Space

Private companies building new spaceships to soar through orbital and suborbital space are looking forward to an action-packed year in 2013, with new flight tests, launches, wind tunnel tests and rocket technology trials all planned during the new year.

Of the many spacecraft being developed only one has already flown in space, the Dragon capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, Calif.The unmanned cargo ship has flown in space three times so far, and carried supplies to the International Space Station twice in 2012 — first in May during a test and then again October.

SpaceX’s next cargo flight to the station is set for March. But a new astronaut-carrying version of Dragon is also in the works. The crewed capsule will be different from its robotic predecessor in several key areas, with SpaceX set to advancing technology for the new ship in 2013.

SpaceX’s new Dragon
“Dragon Version 2 won’t look like [today’s Dragon]. I think it looks pretty cool. Dragon one, we didn’t really know what we were doing so that’s why Dragon looks similar to things that have happened in the past,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk told an audience during a talk at the UK’s Royal Aeronautical Society in London on Nov. 21. Musk described Dragon version 2 as having “legs that pop out” and added that it uses parachutes and its eight SuperDraco thrusters for a “propulsive landing.” [SpaceX’s Dragon at the Space Station (Photos)]

The SuperDraco thrusters, located around the base of the Dragon, also act as the pusher launch abort system to move the capsule (and crew) clear of its rocket during a launch emergency.

While Musk was unavailable for to discuss SpaceX’s plans for 2013, company officials did provide SPACE.com details on its expected activities.

NASA

The original SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft is grappled by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on Oct. 10, 2012 during the spacecraft's first cargo delivery mission for NASA under a $1.6 billion deal for commercial cargo delivery.

In March the company will review its Dragon pad abort test that is planned for later in the year December; in May SpaceX will perform its human certification plan review for the capsule; in June the crewed Dragon on-orbit and entry design review is expected to occur; July would then see an in-flight abort test review;

A safety review is slated for October; and before the December pad abort test, November will see a flight review of an upgraded version of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which launches Dragon capsules into orbit.

“2013 will be a huge year for us. In the first couple of months we’ll kick off work for our certification contract and we’ll award that shortly,” Mango told SPACE.com.

Companies selected for the certification contract will get $10 million each and have 15 months to demonstrate, with data, that their rockets and spacecraft can be considered for the space station transport mission. “The [contract winners] are not just making spacecraft and launch vehicles they are also doing it to meet a NASA mission, our mission to the [ISS],” Mango said. [NASA’s Private Space Taxi Plan (Video)]

In the second half of 2013, NASA will start the bidding process for its commercial crew contract that will lead to the certification of one transportation system to take astronauts to the space station. That contract will not be awarded until early 2014, and a few years later NASA astronauts could travel to the station on the successful launch system.

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: "Astronaut Abby" is at the controls of a social-media machine that is launching the 15-year-old from Minnesota to Kazakhstan this month for the liftoff of the International Space Station's next crew.

Private spaceship contenders
In theory, while any U.S.company can bid for those two contracts, Mango suggested that the three companies that have won funded space act agreements under the commercial crew program will be the likely contenders. Those three companies are: SpaceX; Boeing; and Sierra Nevada Corporation.

Boeing’s spacecraft is the Commercial Space Transportation 100 (CST-100) capsule and is designed to launch atop the Atlas 5 rockets built by the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA). The CST-100 capsule can carry up to seven astronauts and, like Dragon 2, it is expected to land on land. Its design includes airbags to cushion landing, as well as a pusher abort system.

Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser space plane is based on NASA’s HL-20, a spacecraft the agency studied 25 years ago. It is also designed to launch on an Atlas 5 rocket.

In 2012 a Dream Chase prototype was used for a captive carry flight test using a helicopter. In the first half of 2013 an unmanned Dream Chaser will fly low speed approaches and landing tests at NASA's DrydenFlightResearchCenterin California. [Dream Chaser Space Plane in Photos]

“These flight tests are similar to the approach and landing tests that NASA conducted on the Space Shuttle prior to the first launch of the Shuttle. The [Dream Chaser] program is also continuing significant hardware testing throughout 2013 to continue to advance the design of our subsystems," John Roth, Sierra Nevada Space Systems vice president of business development told SPACE.com.

Because the Atlas 5 is the launcher for CST-100 and Dream Chaser, the rocket’s provider ULA is heavily involved with the Boeing and Sierra Nevada work.

“We’re contracted to support Boeing and Sierra Nevadato support their milestones, we’re directly supporting almost all of them,” George Sower, ULA’s Human launch Services vice president, said in an interview.

In 2013, ULA will be continuing to develop the dual engine Centaur upper stage its Atlas 5 needs for launching these manned spacecraft. For satellite launches, the unmanned Atlas 5 has only used a single engine powered Centaur. In April and May, ULA will test ducting to provide propellant for the new Centaur’s two engines. ULA is also planning wind tunnel tests to understand the different aerodynamics of having Boeing’s capsule and Sierra’s winged Dream Chaser on top of the Atlas 5.

Rise of suborbital space planes
While the orbital commercial human spaceflight providers are aiming for operational missions after 2015, the suborbital tourism companies are seeking revenue flights well before then. These suborbital spacecraft are designed to launch beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, but not to enter orbit around the planet. Instead, they will return to Earth to be readied to fly again.

In 2013, XCOR Aerospace is building its Lynx I, which will not fly beyond the 62-mile (100 kilometers) border line between the atmosphere and space. This Lynx rocket plane is a prototype for the planned Lynx Mark 2, which will fly into suborbital space.

“We’re looking at 2013 as the time for our test flight program and in early 2013 we’ll get started. For the Lynx Mark 1, our prototype craft, we’ll be doing test fights throughout the year from early 2013 and then go into commercial flights,” XCOR spokesman Bryan Campen told SPACE.com.

After 2013, the Lynx Mark 2, which will fly higher than 62 miles, will be manufactured in Floridaat or near the KennedySpaceCenter, XCOR officials said. The company is also setting up its new headquarters and research center in Midland, Texas.

Virgin Galactic/Mark Greenberg

Virgin Galactic's first SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceliner (center) is seen mated to its WhiteKnightTwo mothership in front of the "Faith" hangar at The Spaceship Company during a dedication ceremony in Mojave, Calif.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo
After 22 gliding tests between October 2010 and August 2012, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo has been edging closer to having its hybrid solid rocket motor added and making its first rocket powered flight. In May 2012 Virgin Galactic was awarded an experimental launch permit by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial human spaceflight. At the time Virgin Galactic was anticipating a rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo flight by the end of the year.

By Sept. 20, the SpaceShipTwo rocket motor had been fired on the ground 17 times. On Oct. 19, Virgin Galactic released an image of the oxidizer tank being fitted to the first SpaceShipTwo, called the VSS Enterprise.

The oxidizer flows through the hollow center of the solid fuel rocket and when ignited will burn with the fuel to generate thrust. The first rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo flight is now expected in 2013.

An earlier version of this report misstated the scheduled time frame for SpaceX's next cargo flight to the International Space Station. Follow SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Southern stargazing

Stars, galaxies and nebulas dot the skies over the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile, in a picture released on Jan. 7. This image also shows three of the four movable units that feed light into the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, the world's most advanced optical instrument. Combining to form one larger telescope, they are greater than the sum of their parts: They reveal details that would otherwise be visible only through a telescope as large as the distance between them.
(Y. Beletsky / ESO)
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A balloon's view

Cameras captured the Grandville High School RoboDawgs' balloon floating through Earth's upper atmosphere during its ascent on Dec. 28, 2013. The Grandville RoboDawgs’ first winter balloon launch reached an estimated altitude of 130,000 feet, or about 25 miles, according to coaches Mike Evele and Doug Hepfer. It skyrocketed past the team’s previous 100,000-feet record set in June. The RoboDawgs started with just one robotics team in 1998, but they've grown to support more than 30 teams at public schools in Grandville, Mich.
(Kyle Moroney / AP)
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Spacemen at work

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, right, and Sergey Ryazanskiy perform maintenance on the International Space Station on Jan. 27. During the six-hour, eight-minute spacewalk, Kotov and Ryazanskiy completed the installation of a pair of high-fidelity cameras that experienced connectivity issues during a Dec. 27 spacewalk. The cosmonauts also retrieved scientific gear outside the station's Russian segment.
(NASA)
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Special delivery

The International Space Station's Canadian-built robotic arm moves toward Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus autonomous cargo craft as it approaches the station for a Jan. 12 delivery. The mountains below are the southwestern Alps.
(NASA)
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Accidental art

A piece of art? A time-lapse photo? A flickering light show? At first glance, this image looks nothing like the images we're used to seeing from the Hubble Space Telescope. But it's a genuine Hubble frame that was released on Jan. 27. Hubble's team suspects that the telescope's Fine Guidance System locked onto a bad guide star, potentially a double star or binary. This caused an error in the tracking system, resulting in a remarkable picture of brightly colored stellar streaks. The prominent red streaks are from stars in the globular cluster NGC 288.
(NASA / ESA)
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Supersonic test flight

A camera looking back over Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo's fuselage shows the rocket burn with a Mojave Desert vista in the background during a test flight of the rocket plane on Jan. 10. Cameras were mounted on the exterior of SpaceShipTwo as well as its carrier airplane, WhiteKnightTwo, to monitor the rocket engine's performance. The test was aimed at setting the stage for honest-to-goodness flights into outer space later this year, and eventual commercial space tours.

Red lagoon

The VLT Survey Telescope at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile captured this richly detailed new image of the Lagoon Nebula, released on Jan. 22. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. This image is a tiny part of just one of 11 public surveys of the sky now in progress using ESO telescopes.
(ESO/VPHAS team)
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Fire on the mountain

This image provided by NASA shows a satellite view of smoke from the Colby Fire, taken by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft as it passed over Southern California on Jan. 16. The fire burned more than 1,863 acres and forced the evacuation of 3,700 people.
(NASA via AP)
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Where stars are born

An image captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Orion Nebula, an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away. This false-color infrared view, released on Jan. 15, spans about 40 light-years across the region. The brightest portion of the nebula is centered on Orion's young, massive, hot stars, known as the Trapezium Cluster. But Spitzer also can detect stars still in the process of formation, seen here in red hues.
(NASA / JPL-Caltech)
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A long, long time ago...

This long-exposure picture from the Hubble Space Telescope, released Jan. 8, is the deepest image ever made of any cluster of galaxies. The cluster known as Abell 2744 appears in the foreground. It contains several hundred galaxies as they looked 3.5 billion years ago. Abell 2744 acts as a gravitational lens to warp space, brightening and magnifying images of nearly 3,000 distant background galaxies. The more distant galaxies appear as they did more than 12 billion years ago, not long after the Big Bang.
(NASA / NASA via AFP - Getty Images)
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Frosty halo

Sun dogs are bright spots that appear in the sky around the sun when light is refracted through ice crystals in the atmosphere. These sun dogs appeared on Jan. 5 amid brutally cold temperatures along Highway 83, north of Bismarck, N.D. The temperature was about 22 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, with a 50-below-zero wind chill.